


Melt Your Headaches, Call It Home

by heureux



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, like triple cheese pizza on top of a mountain of more cheese, this is cheesy just warning you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-08
Updated: 2013-08-08
Packaged: 2017-12-22 18:53:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/916805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heureux/pseuds/heureux
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Gemma would say he is the only person to go to a foreign country and then meet someone from his own."</p><p>In which neither of them can speak Spanish but are in the heart of Spain, there's a shitty flat with a bed that smells like weed and pine trees, neighbors that are into threesomes, and Harry likes to steal newspapers from an old man down the hall.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Melt Your Headaches, Call It Home

**Author's Note:**

> So the inspiration for this came from the fact that I haven't been to Spain in years and I miss my family and I'm feeling especially nostalgic and I've read quite a few travel!fics but I haven't seen one for Spain, much less Salamanca. So. I decided to write this little thing.

Harry considers himself fortunate enough to have been able to find a place this inexpensive near the town. Yeah, the landlord had been a bit shady, with his stained shirt and sweaty face, but Harry will chalk that up to the fact that it’s summer in Spain and it’s hot as hell.

And besides, he’s thankful because not many people were willing to rent out to someone for a few short months, but this guy had just handed over the keys looking like he honestly couldn’t give a shit that Harry could hardly speak without thumbing through his little Spanish dictionary as long as he paid the rent. (three years of taking Spanish and he hadn’t learned a thing about vocabulary and useful phrases, but thank god he could conjugate in four different tenses) Harry had tried not to let out an exasperated sigh when the man informed him that he could, in fact, speak English as he’d handed over first month’s rent.

The flat’s small and has two rooms with a tiny bathroom and looks like it hasn’t been lived in for a while. The couch has seen better days, and he really doesn’t want to know what the little white stain on the seat cushion is, and the refrigerator squeaks loudly when he opens it, the thermostat doesn’t work, and the window only opens up a quarter of the way to let in a very slight breeze, but it’s his and he’s here and it’s brand new to him and exciting.

He drops his bag in his bedroom next to the bed which luckily does not have suspicious stains but smells like weed and oddly enough, pine trees. He figures he should probably go see if the small TV in the living room works, but he’s tired and hasn’t slept in at least twenty four hours so he lays down to try and take a nap before going out to find a laundromat or something.

It’s in that moment, when he’s laying on his bed with his hands behind his head just as he’s about to drift off that he realizes the walls are extremely thin because all of a sudden it sounds like something’s been slammed up against the wall next to his bed and oh. He has neighbors. Loud one’s by the sound of it.

It’s when he hears a loud moan come from the other side of the wall when he decides now is as good as a time as any to get going and find that laundromat. Or anything, really.

He grabs his wallet and heads out, running down the stairs because not only does the air conditioning not work, but neither does the elevator, and honestly Harry thinks that if he had been more concerned he should’ve complained about false advertising on the sign that said this place had air conditioning.

He decides to walk around the town to get himself acquainted to it, and he honestly has no idea where he is, just hopes his travel book is good enough to get him back to his flat, but he’s shit with maps anyways so he doesn’t why he bothers. It’s not like he knows his address. He realizes this once he’s been walking for fifteen minutes and is already in the middle of La Plaza Mayor and he’s in the middle of taking it all in.

It’s really gorgeous he thinks, and from where he’s standing he can smell bread baking from a bakery to his right and there’s a sale on some sort of tapas at the bar to his left and he’s considering going there to partake in that little deal because he’s actually getting a bit hungry. (he blames it on the smell of fresh bread baking because that’s always been able to make him hungry)

But like he’s so entranced by his surroundings, because there’s so many people milling about yet it doesn’t feel crowded, it just feels warm, though he supposes that’s because of the heat, even if it is starting to get late and cool down a bit.

There’s a family of three eating ice cream across the way and there’s a women carrying three loaves of fresh bread in her arms and munching on it, and he had passed a jewelry store that had a pair of earrings in the window that he thinks Gemma would adore, but he probably can’t afford, and there’s a bunch of men in the bar next to him, watching some football game on the big screen and it looks to be Barcelona playing and he hears two men talking animatedly about Xavi and Fàbregas.

Harry’s able to translate the sale sign and decides to grab a bite to eat there, seeing as how he can sit and watch a Barcelona game and also there’s two for one pints.

He orders his drinks and prides himself on his ability to order chorizo and croquetas without sounding like a twat (he hopes) and he waits for his food to come as he sips his beer and tries to understand what the commentators are saying, but they’re talking at such rapid fire speed and he can barely understand what’s going on when he’s watching a football game in English so.

“Te gusta futbol, si?” Harry looks to see a guy sitting next to him with a pint in his hand and if Harry’s being honest, he’s gorgeous, and he considers it a damn shame that he’s not fluent enough to flirt. 

“Er, si. Es un muy bueno deporte.” Harry answers and he really hopes that this guy doesn’t ask more questions because damn Señor Garza for not teaching his class how to speak this damn language because he can’t speak it for his life.

“Alright you know what, I can barely speak Spanish, sorry.” the guy says and Harry’s eyes widen a bit because he’s British too and Gemma would say he is the only person to go to a foreign country and then meet someone from his own.

“Me either.” Harry admits sheepishly and the guy laughs.

“Trust me, I know. You started sweating when you had to order your chorizo, mate, I mean. You should’ve just gone for ham and cheese like I did, it’s a lot easier.” he says and gestures to his little plate in front of him.

“You’d think after three years of taking Spanish I’d know how to speak it a little bit, but no.” Harry sighs, shaking his head and smiles at the bartender as he hands him his food. 

“Well at least you know how to understand it a bit. I couldn’t even be fucked to learn a few basic phrases or words besides ‘yes’, ‘no’, and ‘where’s the bathroom?’ before I decide to spend the summer here. Though I didn’t do that when I visited Italy and Germany either so what do you expect.” the guy says and Harry smiles at that. 

“So what brings you here then?”

“I figured what the hell, I’m in Spain, don’t want to stay in Madrid the entire summer because trust me it’s even hotter there than it is here, so might as well visit the town where Vicente Del Bosque’s from.” the guy shrugs and gives Harry a look that translates to ‘what can you do?’. “Anyways, what about you?” he asks with a sip of his beer.

“I just wanted to get away for a bit before I start uni in the fall and feel tied down to England for the rest of my life.” Harry says with a bite of a croqueta.

“Not necessarily. I mean I always travel in the summer then go back to study in the fall each year. Though I guess it can be a bit expensive, but let me tell you I spend most of my money on the train rides and hotels, not the whole dining and drinking and touristy stuff.” the guy says.

“I just rented out a flat for three months. Figured it’d be cheaper than a hotel but the place where I’m staying isn’t exactly the Midland Grand.”

“That’s genius, why didn’t I think of that?” the guy frowns and shoves the last piece of his jamón y queso into his mouth before pushing his plate forward. “I’ve been wasting my money on cheap hotels these past couple years.” and Harry doesn’t say anything because he honestly doesn’t know what to say so he looks back at the football match for a second. “Anyways, I’m Louis.” the guy says a moment later, holding his hand out for Harry to shake.

“Harry. Pleased to meet you.” Harry says as he shakes Louis’ hand because his mum brought him up with manners and if anyone deserves his politeness, he thinks it’s Louis.

“You too. So did you travel with friends?” Louis smiles.

“No, my mate Niall went back to Ireland to visit family so he couldn’t come anyways. You?”

“Well last year I took my friends Zayn and Liam to Italy but they spent the entire time fucking in their hotel room, saying some shit about how Milan is ‘the city of love’ even though that’s obviously Paris.” Louis rolls his eyes and Harry laughs and finishes off his little meal. “So yeah, decided not to bring them this year. They kept saying I was bitter about not having anyone to travel to the ‘city of love’ with and then I proceeded to correct them about how it’s Paris for the last time and how I don’t see the point in tying myself down to someone anyways.” Louis sighs and motions to the bartender for another drink for him and Harry. “Sorry, I’m rambling. Tend to do that a lot, if I’m honest.” Louis says with a slight frown.

“S’alright, it’s nice.” Harry smiles and finishes off his drink before grabbing his new one. “So have you been to Madrid yet?”

“Yeah I have, but to be honest it was a bit too crowded for me, too much like London. I don’t like big cities that much. Besides, I only went to see if I could see a Real Madrid game in the flesh but tickets were sold out so. Decided to just come to Salamanca because it’s cooler and less crowded but still nice.”

Harry nods in agreement. “Yeah. Though I think that most places in Spain are probably nice. I heard that Galicia is known for their zamburiñas.”

“What the hell is that?”

“Some sort of scallops, I think? I don’t know, it was in my travel book.”

“Ah alright.” Louis says with a slightly impressed look on his face that makes Harry feel proud of himself.

The bar erupts into a chorus of “Olé, Olé, Olé!” and Harry looks up at the screen to see Iniesta running across the field with his arms over his head and a grin on his and his teammates’ faces after he’d scored what is obviously the game’s winning goal.

“Shit, I can’t believe I missed it!” Louis says, his eyes glued to the screen as he watches the replay. “Aw man, that was such a good goal, Iniesta is amazing. I don’t care what people say, I don’t care how old he is getting, Iniesta is still great.”

“Exactly. I think that if it wasn’t for Casillas playing for Real Madrid Barcelona would be unstoppable.”

“Got that right. Casillas is just. He’s legendary.” They both look up at the screen with awe in their eyes as the bar continues their chants because there’s only a minute and a half left in the game anyways, it’s obvious Barcelona’s won it again.

“But besides the point.” Louis says a few minutes later, once the cheers have died down and people are starting to leave and go home to dinner with their families. “Obviously Spanish football is amazing but back home it’s all Manchester United for me.”

“I dunno man, Chelsea has has Fernando Torres and-”

“Nope. Manchester United.” Louis interrupts and Harry decides that’s that then. He takes out his wallet and finishes off his pint and hands the bartender his bill and a tip and Louis watches him and then does the same, brushing off his shorts as he stands up from his bar stool. “So. What are we doing next?” 

“We?” Harry asks, a slight flush creeping up on his cheeks.

Louis grins at Harry’s flush and doesn’t seem to be embarrassed in the least. Harry sort of wishes he could be as shameless as him. “Well yes. Unless, you have somewhere else to be of course.”

“Er, no, ‘course not.”

“Alright then. What were you going to do after after grabbing some delicious food and talking to some weird stranger?” 

“Well I was just going to find a laundromat and then go back to the flat, but then I got distracted by some weird stranger.” Harry smirks.

“Hey, just be glad it was some weird English-speaking stranger instead of some Spanish-speaking one that probably only wanted you to fuck them.”

“Are you saying you wouldn’t let me fuck you, then?” Harry asks, and yeah he’s definitely glad Louis’ not some Spanish guy because he wouldn’t have been able to banter like this if he was speaking Spanish.

“I don’t know, thought I’m too weird for you.” Louis smirks and starts walking out into the Plaza without looking back to see if Harry follows him. (Harry does)

*

It goes on like this, Harry and Louis meeting up every day to hang out and explore the town, though never before ten in the morning because anything before that is an “ungodly hour” according to Louis. 

They go to the typical “touristy” places, like the old and new cathedrals, because “Did you know Salamanca is the only city in Spain that has two cathedrals?” which made Louis roll his eyes at Harry because really, who cares. They look for the astronaut on the Catedral Nueva, because Louis didn’t believe Harry when he told them that yes, that is an actual thing on the building. They find the Lucky Frog on the Universidad Civil and they make wishes and Harry refuses to tell Louis what he wished for. They go to the Bullfighting Museum and the Garci Grande Palace and buy cute little bull plushies for each other at some tourist store near the Plaza Mayor and Harry honestly has no idea what he would he would have done if he hadn’t met Louis. He supposes it would be a lot more boring. 

They’re shopping in El Corte Inglés and Harry’s carrying Louis’ H&M bags because he’s “too pretty to sweat” and Louis’ rifling through their jerseys because “Ohmygod they have official Spanish football Adidas jerseys on sale!” when Harry offers Louis to move into the flat with him.

“They don’t even have the team’s names on them or anything.” Harry says, rubbing his wrist to make sure he doesn’t lose his circulation from holding Louis’ bags.

“Well of course, otherwise they wouldn’t be on sale.” Louis replies matter-of-factly as he searches for his size. He takes one off the rack and holds it in front of him. “You think this will fit?” he asks, looking up at Harry before surveying the jersey in front of the mirror. 

“Yeah, I think so, maybe.” Harry says, flicking through his travel book to think of things for them to do tomorrow. 

“You’re no help.” Louis rolls his eyes and takes the jersey off the hanger and starts putting it on over his shirt. 

“You know the changing room is literally right there, right?” 

“What, it’s not like I have to try on a kit or anything.” Louis says, straightening out the jersey and looking at it in the mirror, turning around to see the back. “Yeah, I think this will do just fine.” he nods, already taking it off.

“If you keep on buying all this stuff you’re not going to be able to fit in in your luggage.” Harry says, looking at the three shirts and pair of jeans that are slung over his arm.

“No need to worry young Hazza, because I am a good packer.” Louis smirks as he hangs the jersey back up and Harry holds out his arm so Louis can put it with his other purchases.

“You know, why am I carrying all this?” Harry huffs.

“Already told you. I’m too pretty to sweat.” Louis says, his eyes already on a pair of shorts across the way.

“Well what if I wanted to shop too?” Harry asks and Louis looks over at him from where he’s holding up a pair of light blue shorts to give him a look. “Alright fair enough but I was actually thinking of making dinner tonight so.”

Louis raises an eyebrow at him with a curious look in his eyes. “You cook?”

“Yes as a matter of fact I do sometimes.” Harry says smugly.

“Nice.” Louis nods and puts the shorts back with a small frown. “Do Spanish men not have arses becuase seriously most of these things are made for men with nothing. Anyways, that’s pretty impressive, that you can cook and all that. Most of my diet consists of ramen and cereals when I’m at uni.” he sighs.

“It’s not that difficult to learn and all that once you have a recipe.” Harry shrugs and tries to hide his blush.

“Oh trust me, I can’t cook at all. My mum won’t let me near the stove after the time I burnt rice and the fire alarm went off.”

“How do you burn rice? You didn’t smell anything?”

“There was a ManU game on.” Louis says as if that explains everything. “Anyways, let’s just grab a cart, don’t know why you didn’t think of that in the first place.”

Harry rolls as his eyes as he watches Louis go grab a cart and come back, helping Harry put everything in before they head towards the grocery section. “So what were you thinking of making?” Louis asks as they look at meats.

“I don’t know, something simple like meatballs or something. I’m actually really good at making those so.”

Louis grabs a small package of meat and tosses it into the cart and Harry frowns. “I don’t think that’ll be enough for two people.”

“Why, you have someone coming over?”

“Well I was assuming that you were coming over but.”

“How do you know I don’t have plans?” Louis asks and Harry raises an eyebrow at him disbelievingly. 

“Well if you want to miss out on my delicious meatballs then your loss I guess...”

“Alright, I’ll come over, but only because you’re cooking and I have no one else to have dinner with.”

And like, it’s not the first time Louis’ come over to his flat, but it’s the first time he’s come over for dinner or something other than help Harry bring in some groceries because “I actually do need to have something for breakfast, Louis.” and Harry’s a bit nervous about it, to be honest because like, what if his stovetop stops working like it did that last time he tried to heat water for his tea?

Louis throws in things as the go through the aisles and Harry pushes the cart and puts things back on the shelves and Louis frowns. 

“Why are you even shopping for my groceries, anyway?”

“Because everybody needs oreos.”

“What if I don’t like oreos?”

Louis stops in his tracks and turns around to glare at Harry. “Pretty sure everyone likes oreos. It’s a fact.”

“Alright I do but I don’t need them.”

Louis ignores him and continues putting things in the cart and Harry rolls his eyes. “You know, if you’re going to pick out my groceries every time why don’t you just move in? I still haven’t eaten that box of premiums you made me buy last time.”

Louis stops again and turns around to face Harry with a small smile on his face. “You want me to move in with you?”

“Might as well.” Harry shrugs because it’s not a Thing. “I mean, why waste your money on a hotel room? I’m sure half the rent is a lot more inexpensive.”

“Fair point. But I’m taking the couch.” Louis says firmly.

“But it’s so uncomfortable!”

“Not really. And it’s not like we can just buy another mattress. You’re only in there for another month and a half.” Louis says as he puts clothes on the conveyor belt and takes out his credit card. “Crédito.” he says once the lady asks and Harry puts his things on the counter, putting back the oreos and the other pack of crackers and carrots because he doesn’t even need them. “I thought you don’t even like carrots?” he says as Louis signs his receipt and takes his bag.

“I don’t, they’re horrid.” Louis says, his nose crinkling up in disgust.

“So why put them in the cart?” Harry asks, fighting the urge to roll his eyes again.

“Because I knew it’d piss you off.” Louis grins and starts grabbing Harry’s bags too as Harry hands over a few notes to the cashier.

They make their way out of El Corte Inglés and Louis gives Harry the heavier bags with a laugh and they sit down on a bench and wait for the next bus to come. Louis starts explaining for what feels like the hundredth time on why he can’t do too much manual labor because he’s too pretty to sweat and Harry pinches his shoulder and is glad that asking Louis to move in with him turned out to be a lot easier than he thought it’d be.

*

Harry’s cooking in his sorry excuse for a kitchen and Louis’ watching some Spanish soap opera and it’s nice, Harry thinks. He originally thinks it’s domestic but he quickly gets rid of that thought because this is not a Thing. It isn’t.

“Do you even understand what’s going on?” Harry asks as he rolls his meatballs and puts them into the pan.

“Not really. I mean, I sort of get it? Like, from what I understand, the grandfather has died and now his spirit is in a bat for some reason? And he watches over his grandchildren while their father cheats with the nanny and their mum works.” Louis replies, his eyebrows furrowed a bit as he stares at the television.

“That’s kind of sweet. You know, if it wasn’t for the whole cheating with the nanny thing.”

“I guess, but seriously what the fuck were these people smoking when they thought of this plot?”

“Maybe they have some weird bat fetish.”

“Is that even a thing?”

“I don’t know, people are into weird things.”

“But bats.”

“Maybe it has something to do with like, vampire fetishes.”

“Fucking Twilight bringing back vampires. Vampires shouldn’t even be a thing.”

“They shouldn’t but some people like that shit.”

“Yeah but people also liked Hitler. That doesn’t make him a good person though.” 

Harry says nothing after that and continues his cooking and Louis watches his Spanish soap opera and Harry contemplates making fun of him for it because he’s really into it, like on the edge of the seat cushion and Harry laughs at that under his breath.

They’re in the middle of eating the spaghetti and meatballs while Louis tells Harry the story of when his neighbor tried convincing him that he was a vampire just so he could bite Louis’ neck when they hear noises coming through the wall and Louis seems startled by it. 

“What the fuck is that?” Louis asks, eyes wide with his fork held in mid-air.

“That would be Eduardo and his girlfriend Maria.” Harry says without so much as a glance at the wall.

“Jesus. They do this every night?”

“Right before dinner and right after dinner.”

‘‘He must have a really good libido.”

“He does.”

Harry goes back to eating and Louis just stares at the wall for a moment before wincing at a loud moan coming from what Harry knows is Maria and Eduardo cursing.

“Wait, how do you know their names?” Louis asks, still looking a bit startled.

“They introduced themselves to me once when I was coming in and asked me if I was into a threesome.” Harry says calmly as he flips through the newspaper that he stole from Juan down the hall.

Louis chokes on his spaghetti and his eyes widen. “Well what did you say?”

“Well considering I didn’t even know what they were asking for at the time, I said nothing. But I looked it up later in my dictionary.”

Louis looks a little less surprised now and goes back to eating, albeit a little more slowly. “What is the word for threesome in Spanish anyways?” he breaks the silence once him and Harry have finished and apparently so have Eduardo and Maria a few minutes later.

“Apparently it’s conjunto de tres.”

“Alright then.” Louis says and starts cleaning up their dishes while Harry tries to read the newspaper.

*

Louis’ surprisingly not a bad roommate, not much to Harry’s surprise. Harry cooks, Louis cleans up after him even though he “really fucking hates cleaning”, and Harry has to stop himself from saying it’s very domestic because it’s not a Thing.

They continue to go out during the day, and Harry continues to cook them dinner, and Eduardo and Maria continue to have loud sex, and it works out really well for the two of them, Harry thinks. He still feels bad Louis doesn’t have an actual bed to sleep on, but Louis seems content with the couch, even with it’s suspicious stain. (“All it means is that at some point in time someone got laid on this couch. It’s not a big deal.”)

Harry complains that Louis uses all the hot water and Louis complains that the only thing that Harry wants to watch is the news and “honestly, are you eighty years old?” and they compromise by Harry taking a shower first and the two of them watching documentaries on the mating rituals of rare birds in the Galapagos. They don’t understand most of it, but half the time they wind up telling each other stories about their friends or their families or themselves.

“So yeah, that’s basically how Gemma and I almost became prostitutes.” Harry finishes his story about how some pimp in London had tried to convince him and his sister to sell themselves and Louis’ cheeks are red red from laughing and probably the cheap sangria they had bought from the little market down the street and Harry knows he’s probably the same way and it’s nice.

“I think we should go clubbing.” Louis says out of the blue as he passes the bottle to Harry and he watches some male bird puff up its wings valiantly on the telly.

“Shouldn’t we know how to speak at least a little bit fluently before we go anywhere with a mass amount of people who speak a language we hardly understand?”

“Come on Haz, we only have three more weeks left. We should go clubbing. It’s probably like clubbing back home. But Spanish.” Louis says, as if that’s a valid reason. “Imagine all the hot Spanish guys that’ll be there.”

Harry frowns and takes a swig of sangria. “I thought you didn’t like the fact that Spaniards don’t have arses.”

“No, I only complained because me, a non-Spaniard with an arse, is practically unable to find a pair of trousers here that fit correctly. I did not complain about any Spaniards’ arses, or lack thereof.”

“But like you said, it’s probably the same as it is back home, so like, why bother?”

“Because it’ll be fun.” Louis whines, tugging gently on Harry’s shirt. “Come on Haz, it’ll be fun, let’s go. Let’s go now.”

“Now?”

“Yes now!” Louis grins, getting up from the couch quickly and trying to help Harry up.

“But we’ll miss learning about the mating rituals of Darwin finches...” Harry pouts.

“Fuck Darwin finches, let’s go.” 

*

Louis didn’t even give Harry a chance to change his clothes and Harry probably looks ridiculous around all the people wearing flashy shirts and tight trousers while him and Louis are in t-shirts and sweatpants. (Though he has to admit, Louis’ fit him very nicely. He pushes that thought away quickly because this is not a Thing, though.)

Louis’ attempting to order them drinks and Harry’s looking around at all the people and he feels Louis tug at his shirt sleeve and he turns around to order them himself because he’s better at speaking Spanish than Louis is.

He’s glad that him and Louis are already a little bit buzzed because the drinks are twelve euros and Louis was right about clubs back home and clubs here being the same. Louis’ already off to some table by them time Harry pays the bartender and he has to run to catch up with him, because he can not lose Louis tonight, no matter what.

Louis surveys the people around them and he even points out a couple attractive guys dancing or at the bar, but Harry shakes his head because he’s honestly not in the mood for hooking up tonight, and that’s basically how it goes the entire night.

“It’s a damn shame that guy is probably either straight as a gate or still in the closet because he is gorgeous.” Louis says, shaking his head as he watches some guy near them dance with a girl in a short dress and heels that make her like, five inches taller. Harry watches her and wonders how she’s able to walk, let alone dance in heels that high.

Some guy at the bar buys them both drinks and when they accept, he makes his way over to them and says something in rapid-fire Spanish and all Harry is able to catch is something like “conjunto de tres” and he quickly says “No!” before he can go any further.

The guy looks a bit pissed at that, and Harry’s afraid he’s going to punch one of them, or maybe both, but he just stalks off and Harry looks back at Louis, who’s probably laughing really loud but he can’t hear him over the music.

“What?” Harry yells.

“What is up with you and people asking if you’re into threesome?” Louis grins and shakes his head, sipping at his drink.

“I mean, at least we got some nice drinks out of it but my god it’s just like what the actual fuck?”

“To be honest, I’m honored, he was right fit.” Louis admits. “Probably a bit rich too, seeing as how these drinks are like, thirty five euros.”

“Thirty five euros? Fuck, is there gold in there?” Harry says, looking into his glass carefully.

“God, who knows? He could’ve put something in it for all I know.” Louis shrugs.

“He didn’t, I watched him. Though he did add more tequila.”

“How do you know it was tequila?” Louis asks, waggling his eyebrows.

“Because he fucking grabbed it from behind the counter you twat.” Harry laughs. “You probably would’ve seen him too if you weren’t ogling that guy over there.”

“I wasn’t ogling him. I was looking at his assets.”

“Emphasis on the ass.” Harry retorts.

“Okay you know what, fuck clubbing I want to go home.” Louis says once he’s downed half his drink.

“We haven’t even finished our drinks, though...”

“Trust me, if you’re like me, finishing that drink will have me throwing up all through the night. And if you aren’t like me, well you don’t want to see that anyway.”

Harry sighs and takes one last sip and grabs the two little umbrellas from their cups and Louis rolls his eyes at that but holds onto Harry’s wrist as he leads them out of the club.

It’s not until they’re out of the club and walking down the street that Harry realizes how noisy it was in there, because they’re already a block away and he can still hear the noise. He wonders how the residents close by feel about noise this loud at three in the morning. 

“Do you know how to get back?” Louis asks, scratching his nose and looking at the street signs.

“No clue. But there are buses still running apparently.” Harry frowns as he looks at the bus schedule. “I suppose we should just wait here until it comes.” and Louis is already sitting on the bench, motioning for Harry to sit next to him.

Louis leans his head on Harry’s shoulder as soon as he sits and groans. “I am so drunk, Harry. Are you drunk? Because I’m drunk. But like, a good kind of drunk, not the one that like, makes me feel like my liver has been eaten by a rabid squirrel, but like, the one that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and happy. I think that’s what people try and get drunk for, so they can feel this way, but there’s a fine line between this kind of drunk and the squirrel eating your liver drunk, so most people overdo it and rarely get this feeling.” Louis rambles and Harry thinks he’d probably laugh if he wasn’t so exhausted.

“Yeah, I’m that kind of drunk too, Lou.” Harry says, putting his head on top of Louis’ and closing his eyes.

“Can I tell you a secret?” Louis whispers after a moment.

“Yes.” Harry whispers back, because all secret-exchangings should be whispered. That’s why they’re secret-exchangings and oh god he is so drunk. But like Louis said, the good kind of drunk.

“I really like when you call me Lou. It makes me smile.”

Harry hums in agreement and says nothing for a moment. “Can I tell you a secret?”

“Sure.” Louis whispers, because he probably knows that secret-exchanging requires whispering too.

“I really like making you smile.” Harry whispers, a little content smile on his face. “Like. I feel like if I could make you smile at least once a day then that has been a successful day.”

Louis doesn’t say anything to that, just looks at Harry, and Harry can tell even though his eyes are closed because he can feel when a person is looking at him, especially if that person is Louis so he opens his eyes and just looks at Louis because he doesn’t want to break the silence, even though he can still hear the music from the club a little bit.

He’s just about to open his mouth to say something when he feels Louis put a light hand on his thigh and that shut him up. He looks at Louis’ hand and then back up to his face and then he feels Louis’ lips on his and they’re all soft and a little bit chapped and it’s honestly just like Harry had imagined they’d be and it’s perfect and so Louis and he just. He has no idea what to say but it’s not like he really can say anything at this moment so instead he just nips at Louis’ lip and he tastes of alcohol but also there’s a faint taste of cherry, but like, the good kind, the ones that came with their drinks, not like cherry-flavoured medicine because he hates the taste of that.

And they just stay like that, Louis’ hand on Harry’s thigh and both of their lips pressed together until the bus finally arrives. Oddly enough, Harry’s not upset that it’s late because he feels like he could honestly kiss Louis forever and be content. Louis’ the one that pulls away from him and holds onto his wrist as the get on the bus and Harry honestly cannot stop himself from smiling all the way home.

*

As soon as they’re both through the door, Harry has Louis up against it and Harry thinks that he could probably give Eduardo and Maria a run for their money if he wasn’t so tired so they just stand there kissing for a few minutes before Louis lets his head slip onto Harry’s shoulder. “I’m tired can I sleep with you?” he asks quietly with his lip puffed out a little bit and honestly how can Harry say no to that, even if he wanted to.

So Harry just smiles and leads Louis into his room and as soon as they both fit onto the tiny mattress, Harry’s arms wrapped around Louis’ middle and Louis’ face in the crook of Harry’s neck, they fall asleep.

*

And it goes on like that, Harry cooks, Louis cleans up after him, Eduardo and Maria continue to fuck each other senseless, and Harry and Louis continue to watch their documentaries about Galapagos birds.

Except now Harry doesn’t feel guilty about Louis not being able to sleep on a mattress because now they sleep on one together and even though it’s small Harry likes it because it just means he gets to be closer to Louis.

And the shower is in fact, too small for two people because Harry tried to blow Louis in it but literally could not fit so instead he just blew him on the couch while Louis watched that damn soap opera with the grandfather bat.

*

They’re eating dinner and drinking sangria and it’s oddly silent for once because Eduardo and Maria went to go visit their parents in Galicia apparently and Harry thinks it’s just really weird.

“Okay this is just really weird.” Louis says, his fork down.

“Yeah it is.” Harry says, his nose slightly scrunched up.

“You know how fucked up this is, right? That we have to hear two people fucking in order to eat in peace.”

“I’m a bit concerned about how we’re so used to it at this point.” Harry agrees.

They go back to eating for a few moments and Harry’s trying to read another newspaper he stole from Juan down the hall and really he should start paying Juan something because it’s become some sort of a daily thing but Juan doesn’t seem to mind so.

“So does this mean that you will fuck me senseless now?” Louis asks, a small smirk on his face.

“Well it’d only make sense.”

“I mean, we don’t want the other neighbors to miss Eduardo and Maria.”

“I’m sure they’re unable to eat their dinner without hearing two people getting off too.”

“We’d really only be doing a public service to be honest.”

And with that Harry’s already kissing Louis and they’re heading towards their room and Harry has Louis pressed up against the wall and Louis’ pulling off Harry’s shirt.

“Please tell me you have lube.” Louis sighs as he start pressing kisses along Harry’s collarbone.

“Shit, where’d you put it last time?” 

“It should be in the drawer!” Louis says as Harry searches frantically in the drawer.

“Well it’s not there!”

“Oh wait check the bathroom I think I left it there.”

“Why the fuck is it in the bathroom?”

“Because remember yesterday when I said you couldn’t fuck me in the shower and you thought that I was daring you to try or something even though I wasn’t because that’s a cold hard fact, you can’t fuck me in that shower because I can barely hold out my elbows and fit in there. But you were determined because you thought it was a dare so you tried fitting the two of us in there and I kept telling you no, it is impossible to fit two people in that shower but like, you had the lube and you were determined and you tried and eventually you just gave up and went to go make dinner. And you told me that my job was to put the lube back in the drawer but I forgot you forgot that you weren’t wearing pants and you just started cooking even though you weren’t wearing pants. It was distracting.”

“I didn’t wear pants on purpose...” Harry mumbles and runs to grab the lube and by the time he’s back Louis’ shorts and t-shirt are on the ground and he’s just standing there in his pants and Harry thinks that it’s kind of unfair that he’s still wearing his jeans so he quickly gets rid of them and goes back to kissing Louis and Harry can tell that Louis’ already hard and he’s sure he is too so he decides to just take off their pants too.

“Can I just say that I think that we are doing a good thing for the people of this hallway and I am proud of us for being so thoughtful.” Louis says as Harry lays him out on the bed and starts slicking his fingers up with lube.

“Oh my god shut up already.” Harry laughs and starts nipping at Louis’ neck as he presses his fingers into him and that makes Louis shut up because instead he’s just letting out little breathy moans and grabbing at Harry’s curls gently as he opens him up and Harry thinks that there’s nothing more beautiful than Louis in that moment.

And like, it’s all a bit too much for Harry right then, because Louis is leaving little bruises on his neck and silently telling him he’s ready and Harry doesn’t think he can ever get used to this because it’s Louis and he’s gorgeous and all for him and he can’t believe he’s this lucky.

So Harry rolls on a condom and lubes himself up and kisses Louis as he presses himself into him and he feels Louis gasp and let out a little breathy moan against his lips and it’s like all Harry can think of is LouisLouisLouis.

Louis grins as they hear the bedframe start to hit the wall gently because no matter how hard they try, they will probably never be Eduardo and Maria and to be honest they’re quite alright with that because HarryandLouis seems a lot better anyways.

Louis’ chanting Harry’s name quietly into his ear and Harry can tell he’s already close because he’s slurring his words and digging his fingernails into his hip. He thinks he should probably be concerned about the marks that will surely be there in the morning, but if he’s being honest he loves going around with Louis’ marks on his skin, even if they can’t be seen by anyone besides him. So Harry starts stroking Louis’ cock with his thrusts and Louis comes with Harry’s name falling from his lips and Harry’s not far behind, Louis’ mouth silencing his moans.

They lay back on the bed and try to catch their breath, and Harry reaches for Louis’ hand instinctively.

“Well I wouldn’t say we were Eduardo and Maria but the neighbors will just have to deal for the next few days.” Louis says, looking over at Harry with a smile and a shine in his eyes.

“We were better.” Harry says simply and even Louis can’t argue with that.

*

Harry’s skyping with Gemma while Louis’ out buying groceries because he ate all the oreos and thinks that it’s “absolutely necessary to have that in the house” so. He’s told Gemma and his mum about Louis but he doesn’t want to pressure him into anything because they haven’t really defined what they are exactly and it’s a bit frustrating because they only have a week and a half left and he has no idea what will happen to them when they get back. 

“So why haven’t I met this Louis guy yet? Mum’s been asking too. You know how she gets. Wants to plan the wedding before you’ve even been on your second date.” She rolls her eyes with a fond smile and Harry laughs.

“I didn’t even tell you guys until our fifth date though.”

“Yeah and she’s still a bit pissed off about that by the way. She thinks she’d been betrayed or something.”

“Yeah well. I don’t know, I still need to ask Louis if he wants to meet you so.” Harry shrugs.

“Well hurry up and ask him then, it’s not that difficult. I mean from all the stuff you’ve told me about him he seems pretty cool about that stuff. Besides, you said he had a pretty big family so he’ll probably relate.”

“Still.”

“Still nothing. Mum’s getting anxious about it and I wouldn’t care but she calls me at least once a day and harrasses me about what the two of you are doing and I can’t tell her because I don’t even know myself.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll ask him, just. I’ll call you tomorrow, yeah?”

“Yeah, whatever.” Gemma grumbles before hanging up on him and Harry’s left alone. He decides to send his mum a few pictures of the Casa Lis from the other day and he’s just about to hit send when Louis comes back, his arms laden with bags.

“So there was a sale jamón serrano so I bought some of that and splurged a little on some manchego.” Louis says, dropping the bags on the floor and putting their things in the refrigerator. “Also I found some wine from Barcelona that’s supposed to be good but who knows. Figured we could just have that for tonight, yeah?”

“Yeah sounds good.” Harry nods and finishes his email then shuts his laptop. “So I skyped with Gemma while you were gone.”

“Yeah? How is she?” Louis says, trying to cut through the manchego like they do in the bars, but it’s just not the same.

“She’s fine.” Harry sighs and watches Louis for a moment. “Er, she wants to meet you... like, properly. Her and my mum.” He gets quieter as he finishes his sentence and he sees Louis tense up a bit.

“Like, when we go back?” Louis asks, his voice barely audible.

“Well yeah but. Like, they’d love to meet you over skype or anything really. I haven’t showed them a picture of you or anything, so.”

“You told them about me?” Louis’ looking at him now and Harry feels his face warm and he just nods, unsure of what to say. Louis smiles at that and shakes his head. “I just. I can’t believe you told them about me like. That’s. That’s really great. I mean, I hinted to my mum about you but I didn’t want to say too much? I know my mum, she starts planning weddings as soon as I tell her anything about my relationships and I didn’t want you to feel awkward or anything.”

“I think our mums would get along great because my mom felt betrayed that I didn’t tell her about you until our fifth date.” Harry laughs and he wonders if Louis is made of actual sunshine because the grin he receives is just incandescent.

“I’ll meet your mum if you met mine.” Louis says, and he’s already standing in front of Harry with a sheepish smile and honestly how can Harry say no to that even if he wanted to.

“Deal.” Harry grins and stands up to kiss Louis. 

“Alright you know what, fuck dinner.” Louis mumbles and Harry’s being dragged to their room without another word.

*

They head for Madrid Barajas a day early and Harry has to admit that he’s going to miss the little flat that he’s lived in the past three months. The refrigerator still squeaks whenever he opens it, the thermostat still hasn’t and probably never will work, and the window still only opens a quarter of the way, but it’s been his and Louis’ home the past couple months and the place has sort of grown on him.

“You’re such a sap.” Louis says when Harry tells him this and Harry pouts until Louis gives him a kiss on the cheek.

“Help I think I’m going to miss Eduardo and Maria.” says Louis when they’re on their way to the airport.

“It’s going to be difficult to fall asleep without the sound of their wild sex rampages.” Harry agrees with a little smirk and Louis whispers something about them having their own when they get back and Harry just kisses him and lets Louis lean on his shoulder as he reads another newspaper he stole from Juan before he left.

“You should really give him something in return for all the newspapers you stole for him. I bet he hasn’t read the news in weeks.” Louis says, and he has a fond smile that he doesn’t think Harry sees but he does.

“I ordered a special loaf of bread for him from that baker in the Plaza Mayor and I also bought him that expensive wine we saw in that one store a couple weeks back so I don’t think he’ll mind too much.”

Louis chuckles and whispers something along the lines of “you’re dumb” and he falls asleep on Harry’s lap until they get to the airport.

*

And it’s like. Harry’s mum really loves Louis, and Louis’ mum really loves Harry, and both their mums love each other immensely and Harry thinks that it’s like he’s living in some sort of rom-com but he’s always liked rom-coms because most of them happy endings anyway. And he just has no idea what he did to deserve Louis in the first place, but he’s glad he did it.

And when Harry meets Zayn and Liam he wonders if him and Louis look as happy and content as they do and he figures that they probably do and that makes him feel all warm inside.

And Niall’s always teasing Louis and telling him embarrassing stories about Harry’s childhood (Louis had practically pissed himself laughing when Niall told him the story of how Harry had gone skinny dipping in his neighbor’s pool once when they were gone and got caught by some creepy man who was watching over their house while they were gone. “Hey, that was scary. He could’ve been a pedophile.” Harry had pouted.) and Harry can’t help but feel content because he knows he’s still young and all that shit but he sincerely hopes that him and Louis spend the rest of their lives together, just like this. Zayn and Liam cuddling in the corner and being proper domestic and Niall laughing boisterously while he recall Harry’s childhood secrets.

Of course, they still fight over what to watch over dinner, because Harry always wants to see cliché romances and Louis wants to watch something cool like Spiderman or something, because he “likes romances just as much as the next person, but watching Love Actually three times in a week is a bit much”. So they compromise on some weird reality tv show most of the time, even though Harry knows that Louis secretly likes the cliché romances every once in a while.

Gemma constantly teases him for it, because they’re “so in love they literally radiate happiness”, but Harry knows that she’s happy for him and he just hopes that she’ll find someone to make her happy too.

And it’s one night when they’re on their way home from a night out with Niall, Liam, and Zayn, and Louis’ falling asleep on his shoulder like he always does that Harry thinks that yeah, he’s definitely found his soulmate.

(Though if he ever told that to Louis, he’d probably get slapped over the head for being so sappy.)

**Author's Note:**

> So I've never actually written a complete anything like this (literally the only thing I've written are dumb little drabbles) so I'm kind of proud in a way but really I'm actually more terrified. So leaving a kudos or a comment would be really rad, thanks. :)


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